Fighting
by FaNgIsMiNeDaMmIt
Summary: Max and Fang a have little fight that doesn't go over well.NO LONGER A ONESHOT
1. Chapter 1

**It's currently 3:30 a.m and I am super bored so here is a little oneshot about max and Fang. So they finally get a chance to talk about all this stuff that has gone on since Fang left. They're all in a hotel and they were discussing the doomsday group and then started fighting.**

"Max we have to work together to stop the doomsday group." Fang said for the fiftieth time today. I sighed. Today had been horrible; Fang called us and asked to meet again. Of course I said yes but I wasn't feeling great today and he was getting on my nerves.

"I get that Fang!" I shouted.

"Then why are you just sitting there doing nothing!" He yelled back. Everyone else looked up at us suddenly.

"Guys stop." Kate said in a soft voice.

"No!" we both screamed at once.

"Fang the reason I'm not doing anything is because I'm tired!" I went on.

"Tired of what?" he asked.

"Are you that stupid? I'm tired because my baby is either dead or being held hostage!" I exclaimed and stood up from my seat. I was pissed.

"Max stop now." Dylan said sharply and put his hand on my shoulder. What did he care if I yelled at Fang I thought.

"And it's your fault! If you hadn't left none of this would have ever happened!" I shrieked and stepped closer to him.

Fang frowned for a second then he realized what I was saying. "Is that what this is all about?" he asked in disbelief. Wow it took him long enough to catch on. Maybe he was stupid.

"Guys! Stop fighting now!" Maya yelled.

"Everything bad that has happened for the past few weeks has been because you left! For no reason at all!" I kept going. There was no way I was stopping now.

"I left you because I love you and the flock." He said much more calmly now.

"Fang it's obvious that you don't love. Or you wouldn't be doing this." I replied.

"Angel said that I was going to die! And I didn't want to bring you down with me!" He shouted angrily. He really didn't understand this. Ugh.

"She was seven years old! And you already died, remember I brought you back to life. Who gave you the idea that you had to leave?" I asked.

He shrugged. "nobody ever said that I couldn't. I thought it would be better!

I don't know what came over me just then but at that moment I really wanted to hurt him. I had wanted to since the day he left, because he hurt me. So I lunged for him but somebody wrapped their arms around my waist and pulled me back, so I my hands narrowly missed his throat.

Everybody stared at me in shock for a second. I turned around just as Iggy let go of my waist, how he managed to grab me while being blind I'll never know.

"Max…?" Nudge questioned and looked almost scared.

"Fang, you promised me after we slit up that you would never leave me again." My voice was shaking. Oh no, I was gonna cry again. Crap. I looked down as tears slid down my cheeks.

"Oh hell no."

We all looked over at the Gasman. "What? Fang just made Max cry. That's a big deal." He pointed out.

I looked back at Fang and wiped my eyes. This was embarrassing I hated crying almost as much as I hated Jeb.

"Max come here." He said softly. I walked closer and let him pull me into his arms, then I realized what I was doing. If I let him hug me it was going to hurt so much more when he leaves me again.

"No." I said and pulled away from him, "I'm not doing this, you'll just leave again and this is going to make it worse." I Pushed past Fang and then Ratchet who was blocking the door.

"Not cool dude." I heard Ratchet say to Fang as I was leaving. Maybe Fang and I just weren't meant to be. Well I wasn't going to let it slow me down. So I held my head high and left the hotel room. I just needed a break. A break from everything so I could find Angel.


	2. Chapter 2

**I have been asked by a few people to continue this so I'll try and see if it works out.**

Later that day after my little blowup I was sitting in the room of the hotel sweet that Nudge and I shared. I felt bad about trying to strangle Fang though. Maybe it was a little unnecessary.

"Knock knock."

I looked up and saw Fang leaning against the door to my room. I didn't say anything but he read my eyes and came and sat down next to me anyway.

"I'm sorry." He said

I was surprised to hear bitterness in his voice. If anything I should be saying sorry but that's not something I say very often.

"Apology accepted." I replied stiffly.

He sighed heavily and put his hands behind his head and leaned back so that his head was resting on my pillow. Automatically I stiffened and scooted away from him. How did we get like this I thought to myself as I rubbed the promise ring that I still wore on my finger.

I saw Fang eyeing it probably wondering why I still wore it. Sometimes even_ I_ wondered why I still wore it. All his promises had been broken.

"How did we get like this?" Fang said voicing my thoughts from before.

I just shrugged.

"Max can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure." I said quietly.

"Are you actually going to go to Germany with Dylan?"

I was silent for a moment. I hadn't expected him to ask something like that. Something that I hadn't thought about and didn't have an answer for.

"No," I replied, "well not soon anyway." I got up off the bed and left. When I was out the door I stopped and looked through the small space where I had left the door open a crack.

Fang had sat up and he ran his hands down his face tiredly. He just sat there with his head hanging for a few minutes before he got up and kicked the wall in anger.

It gave me some satisfaction that I was putting him through this. But I was also ashamed because I loved someone and when you love them you shouldn't want to cause them pain.

We all went out for Pizza later, and I still avoided Fang, but I was surprised to find that everyone was getting along okay. Well almost everybody. Iggy just sat there and stayed quiet. Afterwards when we went to get ice cream I pulled him aside to talk.

"Iggy what's up with you?" I asked.

"Nothing." He replied solemnly.

"I took a closer look at him but he seemed fine. Maybe he was just becoming anti- social. The rest of the night went fine but when I got in bed with nudge sleep wouldn't come. I guess I was keeping Nudge awake because after an hour of tossing and turning she asked me if I wanted to go out flying for awhile.

"Yes!" I said suddenly relieved. So she and I got dressed and jumped out the window to fly.

I looked over at Nudge and she was smiling while the wind whipped her wild hair around her face. I smiled too; flying was one of the best things in the world.

"Do you want to land?" I asked her after awhile. She nodded and we started to descend.

We landed near where we had Pizza earlier that night. Nudge Looked around at all the shops and restaurants that were there.

"Max can we go see a movie? That new one about smurfs came out and I really want to see it! Because we never ever get to see movies! Not that I'm complaining or anything because we've been really busy helping you save the world and stuff so-" I cut off Nudge's insane rambling by slapping my hand over her mouth.

One little issue we had was that we were broke and I had to sneak in to the movie. But it was all okay. I watched nudge as she bounced up and down in her seat getting excited.

"Nudge I love you." I said suddenly. It was true, I didn't tell the flock how much I loved and cared about them nearly enough. They were the only family I had.

"I love you too Max." she said and leaned over to hug me, "You're so much better than any normal mother ii could have had. I'm glad I'm a bird-kid." She told me. Wow that was a change in attitude from the kid who wanted to get her wings chopped off a few months ago.

But just as the movie started I caught sight of a tall boy with shaggy black hair and an oversized windbreaker sitting five rows away from us.

Fang.

**Please review and tell me if I should continue or what you think of it. Because this is no longer a one-shot! Woo!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! Thanks for all the great reviews! Here is chapter three!**

I decided to not tell Nudge that I saw Fang sitting with Ratchet and Holden.

I didn't pay much attention to the movie because for some reason Fang sitting five rows in front of me made me nervous. So I did what any normal teenage girl would do. I started shoveling popcorn into my mouth and drank like seven Mountain Dews.

I tried to watch the movie but it was totally useless. I did not want to run into Fang right now and by the end of the movie I was hyperventilating. I had wanted to get out tonight and seeing him just ruined it.

"Max are you okay?" Nudge asked as she finally tore her eyes away from the screen.

"No." I gasped and slapped one hand over my mouth and the other over my churning stomach full of Mountain Dew. I pushed my way past people towards the bathroom.

"Max!" Nudge yelled. Great. There was no doubt in my mind that fang heard that. My cover was blown.

I ran into one of the stalls and puked my guts up. I heard Nudge come in behind me.

"Max are you okay?" she knelt down next to me and held out her Mountain Dew, "Here, have a drink." My stomach lurched in protest and pressed my lips together tightly and looked away.

I got up and went over to the sinks to rinse my mouth out. I was sill nauseous and Nudge walked along slowly next to me with her hand placed gently on my back.

With my hand still pressed against my mouth I suddenly wondered how I was supposed to fly home like this.

I stopped short when I saw all three guys in the lobby of the theater, talking and gesturing towards the bathroom we just walked out of. I had forgotten that Ratchet had super hearing which means that he heard everything that had happened in there.

"Nudge hang on." I pulled her back so that we were pressed against the wall and we could hear them. I could hear ratchet talking.

"Dude she was throwing up in there, I saw her run in. Maybe she and that blonde dude did go to Germany and-"

"Ratchet stop. You're not helping, come on Fang let's just leave because we didn't know she was gonna be here." Holden cut him off.

"Max when did they get here?" Nudge whispered.

"They were here the whole time." I whispered back.

Suddenly I saw Ratchet's had snap up and he stared in are direction. "They know we're here."

I grabbed Nudge's hand and rushed out the door while trying to ignore the nausea. They stared at me and Nudge as we jumped into the air and flew away.

I still felt horrible and now I felt a migraine coming on.

"Max do you want to land?" nudge asked after a few minutes. I nodded and started to descend. We ended up behind some restaurant and when I landed I immediately slumped against the wall and closed my eyes.

"Nudge don't look." I told her she obeyed and I threw up again. Note to self: Never eat Mountain Dew and popcorn ever again!

We walked the rest of the way home. When we got there everyone was awake.

"Where have you been!"Dylan shouted as we walked through the door. I looked around, and everyone was in their pajamas looking tired and annoyed. He was about to say something else but stopped when he saw the look on my face. Nudge was helping me walk because I was so tired that I felt like I could collapse and sleep on the floor. And I knew my face was a gross greenish color.

"We thought they captured you." Kate said softly, "Where are the boys?"

"They'll be home soon." I grumbled and went into the room I shared with Nudge and went to sleep. My Pillow still smelled like Fang from when he was on it this morning. Despite my best effort I pulled it closer and slept with it in my arms.

I loved Fang. That much I would always know. Even if I was pissed at him.


	4. not an update!

**Hey guys! Before I update I would like to ask about what you guys would like to see happen. I have the next few chapters planned out but if you guys have any ideas about what should happen. So any ideas involving Max and Fang and Dylan would be great so any real good ideas will earn you a shout out and I'll probably incorporate them in the story somewhere. Thanks!**

**~ FaNgIsMiNeDaMmIt**


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: If you guys took a look at my profile you would no that I kidnapped Fang. Yes I followed in Saints footsteps. He was randomly organizing duck tape in the local Staples store.**

**Fang: She forgot to mention the part where she pushed me into a cart and ran out.**

**Me: No one asked you. By the way sorry for taking so long to update. School started and my family is going through a really hard time because my uncle passed away recently. **

**Fang: Well I guess that's a pretty good excuse.**

**Me: So I might introduce an oc in this chapter or the next one and I will bring in some faxness!**

I woke up the next morning feeling weird. Something was wrong. I could just feel it. I thought back to last night and shuddered. This was going to make things awkward. I walked out of the room I shared with nudge and into the big room where the TV was.

"Morning Max."

I looked up and saw Star sitting on one of the couches with Kate and Maya. I just nodded at her. I glanced over at Fang. He was glaring down at the floor avoiding my gaze. I said good morning to everyone else and sat down. It was totally silent for a couple minutes.

"Oh cut the crap!" Maya blurted out suddenly. We all looked at her in surprise and she turned to me. "Max we know that you saw Fang last night in the movie theater so stop pretending like it didn't happen!" I guess somebody filled her in last night.

"That doesn't have anything to do with you!"I shouted and stood up so I towered over her.

"Well excuse me for trying to help!" she stood up.

"I can't handle this before breakfast." I slipped my shoes on and grabbed a sweatshirt. "Cereal?" I asked. They all nodded.

So I went out the door and went down the hall. My destination? The mini market around the corner.

That's when I heard them. Deep gravelly voices that always made me cringe. Erasers.

A woman screamed ran back to her room. I slowly backed down the hallway and into our room again. Everyone was frozen and in fighting stance. It looked kind of ridiculous when they were in their pajamas. I assumed Ratchet or Iggy heard them and warned everyone.

Out of habit I glanced at Fang. He was staring at me but with a pained expression. That just reminded me that he didn't have my back. Not in this fight. I sighed and braced myself for the erasers to burst through the door. Of course with my luck that's not what happed.

Instead there was blast and multiple explosions happened throughout the hotel. _Then _the erasers burst through the door.

I immediately kicked the nearest one in the head and he went down. I looked around and noticed that there were about 200 of them. Kate was kicking their heads in one by one. Dylan's fists were moving so fast that I got dizzy just looking at them.

Some invisible force was making erasers fall over everywhere. I think it was Star. We could definitely take these guys, except for the fact that there were so many of them.

One reached out and slashed it's enormous claws against my arms. I cried out in surprise. _Pain is just a message Max."_ I told myself.

I got myself ready and jumped on his back. He went down and I gave him a good kick to the neck. He flipped over and jabbed his claws into my mid-section. Dragging them across with a sly grin. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. I pushed up off the ground and saw that everyone was getting tired and finishing off the last few erasers. Through my hazy vision I could see people still fleeing from there rooms and screaming as walls collapsed in and fires started.

Something grabbed on to my leg, but as I looked down I fell flat on my back. Blood soaked through my shirt. My eyes were starting to close but I heard everyone talking.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Of course." Holden.

"I'm beat." Star.

"Bleeding." Nudge

"Black eye." Maya.

And so on I heard them give reports. The pain was so inbearable. I managed to pull my eyes open and turn my head.

"Where is Max?" I heard Nudge ask. Great, now someone notices me.

My eyes closed again as the sound of their footsteps came closer. I made some type of strangled noise that sounded unfamiliar.

"Oh ew." Star said.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!"

"Dylan, spit on her!"

"Hello! Blind bird child in the house! What happened?"

"Magic spit doesn't

"What's on her leg?"

Those were the last things I heard before I blacked out.

** Sorry that it was so short. Next chapter will be up soon! Please review. **


	6. Chapter 6

The next time I came around I was moving and there were sirens blaring. That's never something I wanna hear. I blacked out again.

The next time I woke up I was aware that I was lying down on a bed. There was a beeping sound filling my ears. Slowly I turned my head to the right and saw Star. She was sitting in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs, reading a magazine.

Her eyes widened and she rushed out of the room. Suddenly I was surrounded by people and doctors.

"What happened?" I croaked.

Iggy was the first to speak. "Remember when Ari sliced up Fang? Well something similar to that."

"Well this is going to set us back." I sighed and leaned back on my pillows. I winced slightly as a stinging pain went through my torso wear the bandages were.

They all exchanged strange looks. Like they weren't telling me something. One thing I couldn't help but notice was that Fang wasn't there.

As if reading my mind Ratchet said, "Fang is on the phone."

"For what?"

Cue awkward silence.

"Max right before you went down something ran in the room and grabbed onto you. It was a little boy with wings and he doesn't know where to go. He keeps asking for you but I don't know why! Not that you're not totally the best it's just that we don't know him and it's like he has heard of you before and he is so adorable but like really clingy and stuff-" Nudge's rambling was cut off when Iggy slapped his hand over her mouth.

I gaped at her. Was she kidding? Was I not awake yet? Ugh this was too much. I just woke up! He was probably calling to find his parents.

Sure enough, Fang ran in chasing something small and fast. He caught it and picked it up.

I groaned and closed my eyes again. This was NOT happening! I tried to sit up again but I felt that same stinging pain.

I sighed and sat back again. "It hurts." I commented. It felt weird to say that, I never said that.

So as it turned out I had gone through surgery and had to stay another night. Of course! Staying in a hospital is always a treat for me! Please note the sarcasm.

That night while I pretended to be asleep I heard Fang and Maya talking.

"Why are we here?" Maya asked.

"What do you mean?" Fang said. Before I closed my eyes I had seen him trying to put the little boy asleep. It turned out that his name was Carter.

"We have our own priorities with the D-day group."

"Yeah but Max got hurt."

"So?" Maya asked as if it was obvious.

"Maya, the same thing happened to me a couple months back. She stayed overnight in the hospital for me. I owe her this. I still love her. Do you even know what it's like to love someone?"

Hmm. He still loved me; well he sure didn't act like it.

"Of course I do. Well sort of."

"Yeah right like who!"

"You're so stupid!" I heard a door slam and then it was silent. I shifted in the bed so I faced the other way. I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch. I saw Fang with the kid in his lap. He looked tired.

Once again I thought about that night in the movie theater. Maybe Dylan was right for me. Especially if it meant avoiding world destruction.

If fang wanted to leave me by now he could have. But we were in the same room and I think I was being a pretty good leader. Even if I was in the hospital and Angel was gone… and there was a weird little kid following us.

Uhg. I guess "Fang and Max" just wasn't good for the world.

"Max I know you're awake."

Busted. I winced a little bit as I sat up and faced Fang. He was sitting in one of the chairs. Everyone was scattered around the room on mats and sheets. All sleeping. I think.

"I've known you for 15 years, I can tell when you're sleeping and when you're not."

"How did you get the kid asleep?" I asked. The boy was sleeping in Fang's lap. He looked about 2 or 3, with black hair and blue eyes.

"Maya did it."

"Of course she did."

He glared at me. Then he glared at Dylan's sleeping figure.

"Dylan is a newbie. Like I said before. He can't stay calm in a fight." He said.

"Well no need to worry. I said, "You guys are leaving again soon." I looked away from him and used the remote to sit the bed up. I could feel my abdomen stinging under the bandages.

"I never said that!" he protested.

"Well I just assumed. That's what you've done in the past."

"I don't want it to be this way." He said quietly.

"Fang, what is the point of all this. You said that we weren't at are best when we're near each other. So why are you here? Why do you come back?" I asked.

"I told you because I needed help to stop the Doomsday group."

"How long are you planning to stay?" I asked.

"Until we have stopped the D-day group." He replied.

"That isn't exactly at the top of my priority list right now." I snapped, "Remember Angel. Little girl, blonde hair, blue eyes, Gazzy's sister! My baby." I whispered the last part. My throat got tight when I thought about that bloody sneaker that still sat in my backpack.

"She's gone Fang. She might not be dead. I would know if she was dead…"

Fang sighed and looked down at Carter. His face changed, he looked curious for a second.

"I wonder where he came from. He has wings. Maybe he knows where Angel is."

"Fang he's 2. He can't possibly know." I laughed.

"You'd be surprised; he talks really well for a toddler." He shifted so Carter's head was in the crook of his arm, and his feet in his lap.

"Let's talk more about this tomorrow. I need to sleep. Now I know what it felt like for you when Ari…" I trailed off, not I subject I liked to talk about.

Before I went to sleep again I glanced down at Dylan's sleeping face. He was sweet, but now that Fang and I had had a civilized conversation that sweetness seemed to matter a little bit less.


	7. Chapter 7

**I am soooooo emotional that it's funny! I watched Breaking Dawn and cried, I watched The onethat got away music video by Katy Perry and cried, and watched the Disney movie **_**UP**_** and cried sooo much, I especially cried when Kevin got captured.**

The next morning we all packed up. Well it was really hard to pack up with the little kid, Carter, running around and grabbing onto my legs. The nurse told me I could leave giving my situation with the fast healing thing. She was a member of the CSM so the whole wing thing wasn't new for her. But I was told to rest and leave the bandages for a few days. Yeah like I ever listen.

"So what's the deal with the whole transportation issue?" Holden asked.

"I used our money from Paris and rented a van." Fang gestured down the road, "It's around the corner." So we all took a little stroll around the corner where a HUGE van was parked.

"Oh way to stand out Fang." I snapped when I saw the car.

"Well there are thirteen of us Max! We can't all fly you know."

"I do not want to get in a van with twelve other people!" Iggy piped up. He was backing away slowly. "I don't care how big you guys say it is."

"Okay, the gang and I will take the van and everyone else can fly." Fang said and everyone started getting into the van or preparing for takeoff. We were going to meet at a point near the gen 77 school.

"Come on guys let go!" I gestured towards the sky. We were already to take off when I felt a tugging at my legs.

"Max?" It was Carter. The little boy pointed to his wings under his shirt. "Wings small."

I forgot about how small and young he was. He probably never learned how to fly.

"Here, I'll carry you." I bent down and picked him up. He was light, and tall like us. I still didn't know if I could trust him. But even I felt bad about interrogating a two year old. I'm not a monster.

**(Line break with the name Kevin. Tee-hee.)**

Some time later we were flying high up and felt really good. I had been stuck in the hospital for almost two days and loved getting out and flying.

Nudge was rambling on and on about peanut butter and jelly, with occasional comments from Iggy and Gazzy. It was like old times except that Angel was missing and my boyfriend had broken my heart but still asked me for help, oh and a little kid had found us.

Speaking of which my arms were getting tired from carrying him. I was going to pass him over to Iggy, but he woke up… and started crying. His dark blue eyes filled with tears and overflowed, he wailed and clutched me, his arms wrapped around my neck.

"Max! What's going on?" Iggy shouted, startled by the noise.

"I don't know!" I shouted and tried to comfort him by stroking his wavy black hair.

"Should we land?" Gazzy asked in a panicked voice.

"Yeah I can't do this in the air." I angled my body down and went down. We all landed in a clearing.

I got Carter on my hip and tried bouncing him up down like they do on T.V. of course television is my only source of education.

I squeezed my eyes shut and thought back to when Angel was his age. She used like it when I or Jeb swayed back and forth.

I stopped the bouncing thing and swayed back and forth with his head on my shoulder.

"Shhh, what's wrong?" I asked him now that the crying had turned into muffled sobs. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nudge talking to someone on the phone. Fang I assumed.

"Feel bad." He answered. It seemed that he only talked in two word sentences. I automatically felt his forehead. He was burning up. Ugh why couldn't he just have a good immune system like every other bird kid in the world?

"Max." I looked up to see Nudge holding out the phone. I took it and got it between my ear and shoulder.

"What?"

"Hey it's me." Fang's voice said from the other end. "Nudge told me what happened with the kid. Is he okay?"

"He has a fever. Can you guys drive here we can't fly while he's like this."

"Okay, we're close by see you soon." Fang hung up and I handed the phone back to Nudge.

"They'll be here soon." I told her.

"I'm gonna go to sleep." Gazzy said with a yawn. I walked over to him and kissed the top of his head.

"Max!" he whined.

"Get over it! I can kiss you goodnight if I want."

He shook his head and flew up to a branch and settled in.

I went back to swaying back and forth with Carter. I could tell by his unsettled breathing face that he wasn't asleep. At least now that I he's sick I know that he's not a weird robot child. Everyone else went to bed but I stayed up. I wanted to make sure that the others got here okay.

I looked up at the stars and tried to find all the constellations. I used to do that every night when I was in the E shaped house. Sometimes Fang would look with me, or I'd sit with Iggy and tell him what they looked like.

I smiled to myself as I thought back to that night in the desert with Dylan when we pointed out constellations.

"Max."

I looked at Carter. His eyes weren't all the way open and he looked exhausted.

"Hurts." He said.

"What do you-"But before I could finish there was the sound of footsteps behind me. I spun around and came face to face with Ratchet.

"What is your problem!" I screeched making Carter wiggle.

"Sorry." I whispered to him.

I looked back up at Ratchet wanting an explanation. I hated when people snuck up on me, whenever it happened which wasn't very often, I felt vulnerable.

"Just wanted to say hi. So how is the little dude?" he asked.

"Here take him. He has a fever. Just a little sleepy." I handed Carter over to him.

"You looked very natural holding him like that. Is there a reason _why_?" he wiggled his eyebrows and nodded his head at where Dylan was on the trees. He and everyone else were all alert. No doubt from my shrieking.

"Where is everyone?" I asked him. He was still trying to get hold of Carter who was wiggling away.

"They sent me in here first to find you." He replied. "I can hear them coming." His head turned to the woods. And sure enough Fang and Maya emerged from the trees, with the rest of the gang in tow.

"Thanks for telling us they were here Ratchet and NOT getting distracted." Maya said sarcastically. "I see you have a new babysitting job." She smirked at Ratchet trying to settle Carter down.

"Hey. Is everyone here?" Dylan asked. We all looked around and there were a chorus of yeahs.

"Kay I'll take watch." Fang volunteered.

"No Fang you've been driving all day. We've been sleeping. I'll take watch." Star spoke up.

"I'll do it." I said.

"Max you just had surgery. You haven't even taken off the bandages. I'll take watch." Kate said. And that was the final decision. Everyone got ready to sleep.

For some reason I knew I wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

"I'll stay up with him." Star said softly. She smiled as she took Carter from Ratchet's arms. Her voice wasn't so cold. I guess kids bring out the best in people. Well most people. Kids were kind of a sensitive subject for me right now.

Just as I had predicted before. I couldn't sleep.

I jumped down off my branch and walked over to Kate. "I'm going to the van. I'll just be inside there." I told her so she wouldn't think I was missing.

I pushed aside some branches and made my way through the woods. Eventually I came out to a little fence. I climbed over it to wear the van was parked. I pulled open the sliding door with ease.

I was startled to find Fang in there.

"Hey Max." he said without looking at me.

"Shouldn't you be asleep, we might have a big day tomorrow." I said and climbed in to the seta next to him.

"Not tired."

"I find that hard to believe."

"How are you feeling?" He asked, totally changing the subject.

"What."

"Max you just had surgery. Remember." He smirked.

"Oh." His little reminder brought my mind back to the subtle aching and stinging in my mid-section. "I'm okay. I've sort of been ignoring it you know. Pain is just a message. That's what Jeb always used to say."

He laughed and looked out the window. He was looking at the constellations. I could tell.

"I was looking at them too before you all showed up."

"I used to know every single one. But I can't even find a lot of them anymore." He said sullenly. He pulled he knees up closer to his chest. He looked so vulnerable sitting there like that.

On instinct I moved closer to him. He put his arm around me without looking. I tensed but relaxed. Why not? I asked myself. If he leaves I've got nothing to lose. I should be used to it by now. I didn't pull away like I had in the hotel that first night our groups met up. I just relaxed and tried to sort through all the constellations with him. Just like jeb had taught us, just like we had done so many times when we were younger.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up to the sound of chirping birds. Warm sunlight came from the window of the van. Wait the van… shit! I sat up quickly and looked around. I'd fallen asleep in the van. Stupid, stupid. I thought to myself. I realized just then that I had fallen asleep leaning on Fang. I remembered how it felt when I fell asleep with _Dylan _by my side.

I heard voices coming from outside. But before I even had a chance to react the car door slid open and I saw Holden and Ratchet standing there with identical smirks on their faces. Great. Another thing for Ratchet to tease me about.

"Hey love birds." Ratchet laughed. "Get it love _birds_. Because you know you have.., wings. Forget it." He turned around and called, "Guys! I found them!" Everyone all came crowding around the door. Dylan looked straight at me.

Then he looked away quickly and frowned. Just great. Now he's going all lovesick puppy on me again.

I used the seats and pulled myself out of the car.

"Ow." I winced and frowned down at my torso where the stitches were. They hurt more than they did yesterday. Damn erasers.

"What's wrong?" Iggy asked.

"Nothing."

"So what's the plan?" Gazzy asked.

"Let's all drive to the gen 77 school it can't take more than a day to get there." I decided. I was really hoping that they wouldn't ask why I wanted to _drive_ there instead of fly.

"Why are we driving?" Of course.

I gritted my teeth. I hated feeling weak. "I don't think I'm up to flying today." I said quickly. I grabbed my back pack from Nudge who was trying to balance that and Carter. No one said anything. Good choice.

"How is he?" I gestured to Carter.

"Fever's almost gone. But he didn't get much sleep last night." Star said. She smiled at him. I was so not used to seeing this side of her.

I nodded. "Shot gun!" I called.

There were groans of protest but in the end Ratchet was driving again because he had the most experience.

Ratchet pulled up a screen so that he wouldn't have to see anyone in the back distract him, but of course he could still hear them. I ignored him. Until…

"So you and Fangy huh?" he smiled.

"No." I sighed. And looked out the window at all the other cars on the highway.

"Oh come on! You can't possibly expect me to believe that! Not after how I found you two this morning."

"We fell asleep by accident!" I said in protest. I was glad that the others couldn't hear us from behind the screen.

"You should forgive him."

"Why should I?" I asked.

"Because he still loves you." He spoke more quietly now, "he only left you because he thought it was the best thing, and he was scared."

"Scared?" I questioned.

"You've left him because you were scared." He pointed out.

"When!"

"Those couple times you kissed him. I read about it on the blog not long ago. Before I met him."

"Maybe I ran away but I didn't say that I was going to leave for twenty years!" I yelled.

"He was only gone for a week before he came back." Ratchet said.

"Well that was a horrible week for me. You don't even want to know how bad that was. I went nuts!" I said and remembered throwing out the ring and then going through the trash to find it.

I looked down and twisted the ring that was still on my finger. Despite everything it was still in good shape.

"Why do you wear that?" he studied the ring for a second before looking back at the road.

"Fang gave it to me as a birthday present."

"That doesn't explain why you still wear it."

"I don't know why I wear it anymore." I sighed and glanced back out the window. Something was still bugging me about Ratchet.

"Why do you tease me?" I finally asked him. He had constantly cracked jokes about me and Dylan for days now,

"It's what I do." Was his reply.

"Well stop! It's causing me a lot of stress."

"I can't help it sometimes!" he smirked.

"Seriously it puts everyone on edge. You should have seen the reaction when the Doctor mentioned it."

"Did all hell break loose?" he asked.

"The exact opposite. We all just stood there and stared. Dylan gut all hopeful and stuff so it was really weird."

There was a knock on the screen. I turned around and rolled it down.

"Max, two things. One Carter wants you, and two we are starving!" Nudge said. She handed Carter over to me.

"Hey cutie!" I crooned. He giggled and snuggled closer to me.

"Nudge I'll pull over soon and find a place to eat." Ratchet told her while looking through the rear view mirror.

"Kay." She rolled the screen back up and through it I saw her sit back and begin playing cards again.

"I wasn't kidding before you know." Ratchet smirked at me again, "you really do look natural holding him like that."

"Didn't you just agree to stop teasing me!"

"I'm telling the truth and I didn't say I would stop. Never agreed to that." He said.

I thought about what he said, well I never said anything about teasing him.

"What about you and Star?" I asked.

"What about us?" His face turned red in embarrassment, he shifted uncomfortably in his sit.

"You know what I mean!"

"Seriously Max I don't like her like that." He defended.

"I'll drop it if you drop the whole laying eggs thing."

"Deal."

The rest of the ride was silent and eventually we came to stop in a huge parking lot.

"Where are we?" I asked.

He gave me an evil grin. "The mall."


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh god you're kidding me!" I moaned. A bunch of mutant freaks in a mall? Not a good idea.

"Come on Max there's a food court!" Dylan said as we all jumped out of the car.

"But I still don't think it's a good idea." I protested. Bad things tended to happen to us in public places. We all knew that erasers were back now.

"Fine I'll go."

So we entered the mall. Nudge flipped out and begged to go to every store imaginable. But I kept reminding her that we were here to eat.

Dylan was stuck to me like glue. He kept staying near me.

"So what's with you and Fang?" he whispered in my ear. I could see that he was trying to be strong but there was the look of unmistakable hurt behind his blue eyes.

"Nothing." Oh what a great answer Max. Ugh.

"It didn't look like nothing this morning." He said. I knew that he was just going to keep on bugging me about it.

"I don't know what Fang wants right now." I said and looked away from him.

"Well, I thought that you could read his mind that's how in _love_ you guys were." He mocked.

"What is your problem!" I screamed. This kid was really pushing me over the edge. We had fallen behind the group and they were way ahead of us now.

"Max I'm upset! Who could blame me seriously! Do you have any idea what it's like to love someone who doesn't love you back? The only reason I exist is to love you. That's why they made me."

He stared at me for a second before hurrying to catch up with the group. I shook my head went to catch up with them too.

I stopped for a moment and stared at the back of Fang's head. I didn't want to hurt Dylan for no reason. If I was going to be with Fang we had prove that it could work. _He_ had to prove that it could work.

Finally after Nudge looking in every store we made it to the food court. A couple people headed off in different directions to find food. Everyone else just sat and waited. I told them I was going to the bathroom. I needed space right now.

I hurried into the bathroom. Surprisingly there were only a couple girls around my age in there putting on makeup. Ew. This is what I get for coming into the mall. Curse you Ratchet!

This whole stupid thing with Fang and Dylan was messing me up again. I gripped both sides of the sink and tried to steady myself.

I suddenly got to thinking about what Fang said in his letter. That I wasn't always at my best leaderness. Maybe he was right. I mean right now I'm sulking in the bathroom instead of being with what remains of my flock. They could all be dead this very second and I wouldn't have known.

With new worries on my mind I ran out of the bathroom and walked back to the table where everyone was crowded around.

When I got there Iggy was showing Kate how he could feel colors. Well at least they were getting along. I pulled up a chair and sat down. I reached for a burger but stopped myself. My stomach was still churning from my little realization in the bathroom. I felt paranoid; everyone in this mall could be an eraser.

I spent the rest of the time nervously waiting for an eraser to pop out and jump me. Later as we walked back to the car I wished that I had eaten something earlier. Because now I was starving. I held onto Carter tightly and started getting jittery. I couldn't sit still and Ratchet noticed.

"What are you doing." He asked and stared at my hands which were nervously tapping against the door.

"Nothing I'm fine. Hey did you happen to bring back any burgers?" I asked I had to eat something, I knew it would calm me down.

"Yeah there's some in that bag." He gestured to a white bag down on the floor. I started stuffing my face with what was left in the bag. Of course it made me feel better right away. But then I got sleepy. Carter wrapped his little arms around my neck and closed his eyes. I was about to close my eyes when I felt a hand shaking my shoulder.

"Shut up." I groaned, "I just had three burgers and a twelve inch sub, I'm going into food coma! Let me sleep."

_Max you have to stay awake. There might not be a fight but you have to stay focused. You might have to actually use your brain._

I sat up in shock. It was the voice. It was showing up less and less nowadays.

_Fine. But I don't know why I am listening to a voice in my head. _I thought back.

_When have I ever let you down Maximum?_

So I was alert for the rest of the ride. I didn't know what the voice meant by using my brain. I was actually quite offended. I was somewhat smart. I went to school for like two whole months.

Ratchet stopped the car. "This is as close as we can get to the school." We all got out and started walking. Dylan and I were the only ones who had seen the spider eyed noid kids. Dylan started filling everyone in on how to fight them.

It was still pretty hot out here in the dessert. I glanced over at Fang; he was looking down at the ground. Usually he would be alert and looking to see if we were about to be attacked.

We neared the building and surprisingly no weird kids jumped out.

"Something is wrong here." Dylan whispered. We were so close to the door now. We were all tense, calculating our best chances of make a run for it.

But nothing happened. Fang came up to the front of the group so that he was closest to the door. Nudge and Gazzy gravitated closer to each other without realizing.

Fang reached out and opened the door slightly. Still nothing. Fang took a step inside.

"Don't." I warned him sharply.

He ignored me and went in anyway. No one moved, and then at the exact same time Maya and I stepped forward. I frowned in annoyance. I was supposed to have Fang's back, not Maya. Then I remembered that he didn't have my back anymore and let Maya go slip in first.

We all followed inside.

"What the hell!" Gazzy shouted.

It was empty inside. Without a doubt. The interior was designed so that you could see every room and floor on each level. No one was in here. Not unless they were hiding in a box.

Slips of paper littered the floor.

"Gazzy, shut up!" Nudge hissed.

Fang scooped up a slip of the ground. I watched his dark eyes move back and forth as he read it carefully. I stared and got lost in the way he frowned. I looked at every scar, bruise, and freckle.

Suddenly he lurched forward looking angry. I snapped out my wings in surprise and ended up knocking Dylan backwards as I snapped out of my haze.

"Max!" He yelled out.

"Oh calm down! It was just a little nudge." I leaned down and pulled him back up.

"What's up?" Holden asked, gesturing to the slip.

"It says that everything in this building was shipped to Paris." He stated solemnly. We were all quiet for a second and Carter looked up at me confused.

"That's where _she_ is." He squeaked. I bent down, picked him up, and held him on my hip.

"Where who is?" I asked eagerly. Was it Angel?

"Don't know." He replied.

"Yay! We get to go on a plane again! And back to Paris!" Nudge squealed.

"Yes! Finally! We should live there!" Total said.

"Wait no one said that we were going to Paris." Star pointed out.

"Well it makes sense." Maya argued. "This institution probably relocated."

My brain was still processing what Carter had said. Was _she_ Angel? I probably wasn't going to get an answer out of him. He'd been quiet mostly and probably still didn't feel well. I shifted him so that his little sneaker clad feet weren't poking my bandages.

Then I noticed that almost everyone was looking at me. Oh right, I was the leader and apparently not being a very good one. Darn.

"Okay guys let's get to the airport. Ig can you dismantle any security stuff with Gazzy?"

"Sure." Gazzy said. Iggy said nothing. I was going to talk to him again.

At least we had a lead. We were on our Way. _I'm coming Angel. I'll save you baby._


End file.
